iStart’s Biometric ID Verification: A Big Leap for Finserv to Eliminate Fraud

Banks and NBFCs strive to give the greatest client experience possible. While enhancing consumer ease, preventing fraud is one of the most difficult challenges. Therefore, financial institutions should balance any convenience enhancements with heightened security.

Consequently, financial services are transitioning to biometric identity verification. iStart's video-based Know Your Customer (KYC) technology enables faster and more efficient customer onboarding and has a stronger track record in fraud prevention.

This newsletter explores biometric identification and how it assists banks and non-bank financial institutions in preventing financial fraud.

What is Biometric identity verification?

Biometric identity verification identifies individuals based on distinguishable characteristics connected to their biological identities. These biological metrics include fingerprints, face, iris, earlobe geometry, voice acoustics, DNA, and others.

How does biometric identity verification work?

Pattern-matching software is an integral component of biometric identity verification. Biometric modalities, such as fingerprints, ear shapes, hand geometry, etc., are innate characteristics of the human body that are specific to each individual.

During the first KYC verification, the financial institution captures these unique customer details and stores them in a secure database. When a user accesses the account service, new biometric data is acquired and compared to previously stored data to identify the user.

iStart Biometric verification to prevent banking fraud

Identity fraud and its related crimes continue to cost millions of dollars to banks, NBFCs, healthcare businesses, consumers, and taxpayers around the world.

As a means of preventing identity theft, biometric verification is fast gaining popularity. The iStart platform safeguards against the following fraudulent activities:

1. Identity theft

Using a victim's stolen identity, cybercriminals can access their private banking information. Criminals target these people in order to commit money fraud, credit damage, or unlawful transactions. Criminals commit identity theft when they take your credentials or passwords.?

iStart video KYC uses their unique identifiable biological data for onboarding, which is difficult for scammers to duplicate.

2. Spoofing Attacks

With digital customer onboarding, criminals use stolen identities and AI-based facial spoofing techniques to circumvent the verification mechanism.

During the digital KYC procedure, iStart Facial Biometrics uses powerful 2D and 3D face mapping technology to detect the user's liveness. To validate the user, it compares the customer's selfie with the photo on their government-issued ID card. Such complex procedures prevent scammers from impersonating legitimate clients.

3. Money mule attacks

Using synthetic user identities, cybercriminals create new accounts that cannot be linked back to them. Scammers leave these accounts inactive in order to avoid raising red flags and use them for unlawful money transactions.?

iStart utilizes behavioral biometrics, which plays an essential role in discovering these money mule accounts. It determines application fluency and data familiarity during account opening to approve such accounts, hence preventing money mule accounts.

4. Deep Fakes

Deep fakes refer to the manipulation of video or audio using sophisticated AI technology to create visuals and sounds that appear genuine. Multi-factor biometric authentication is the most viable method for preventing deep fakes.?

The manipulation of a person's voice, face, and password is simple, but when all three are required for verification, it is practically hard to impersonate the individual.

Privacy Protection

Biometric identity verification improves the security of customer accounts, but financial institutions should secure their customers’ biometric data. Financial firms should anonymize and prevent the exchange of customer data.

All transactions, passwords, images, and personal data should be encrypted and stored in a separate secured network. These steps will preserve user privacy while enhancing customer satisfaction and safety.

Biometrics: A way to better banking

The present digital market anticipates a dependable and secure digital banking infrastructure. Biometric identity verification is one of the most effective means of preventing banking fraud, particularly in the face of more sophisticated spoofing and deep fake threats.

However, facial biometric identification in conjunction with artificial intelligence can avoid impersonation attempts. iStart’s advanced biometric verification checks leverage various AI models to validate and confirm the live presence of the customer. Our onboarding solutions protect your firm from facial spoofing threats with an accuracy of 90%.